Program Notes
String Quartet Music of
Emilie Mayer and Ludwig van Beethoven
Musicians
Emilie Choi and Kimberley Harrenstein, violins; Joyce Ramee, viola; Brian Wharton, cello
Recorded at Green River College, October 2020
Program
String Quartet No. 1 in G minor, op. 14 - Composed by Emilie Mayer
Mvt 2 – Scherzo- Allegro assai
Mvt 3 – Adagio con molta espressione
Mvt 4 - Finale- Allegro molto
String Quartet No. 2 in E minor, op. 59 - Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
Mvt 3 – Allegretto
Mvt 4 – Finale – Presto
Program Notes
String Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 14
Emily Mayer, one of Germany’s great romantic female composers, was born in 1812 in the central German city of Friedland and died in 1882 in Berlin. At a young age she received music lessons from a local piano and organ teacher and excelled. She later traveled and studied with several leading teachers of composition and theory in Germany. She wrote many pieces of chamber music including 7 string quartets and 12 cello sonatas. The quartet in G minor was written around 1840.
The Scherzo is a movement of two different characters. The fast and dark minuet is a nice contrast to the warm and lyrical trio. The next movement, Adagio, incorporates a famous religious chorale tune: “If Thou but suffer, God to guide thee.” This tune was most likely discovered as a young organ student. Look for it in the violin parts. The last movement, Finale, is a tumultuous, rollicking, dance-like movement. In general, this early work shows influences of Mendelssohn, Schumann, and a touch of Berlioz.
String Quartet No. 8 in E Minor, Op. 59, Op. 2
This quartet is part of a set of three commissioned by the Russian ambassador to Vienna, Count Andreas Rasumovsky. The opus 59 string quartets employ Russian themes throughout reflecting the nationality of the commissioner. The third movement, Allegretto, starts with an interesting rhythmic motif. It is a kind of uneven dance-like figure. The trio features a distinct Russian folk song titled “Glory to the Sun.” Beethoven writes this theme to be played loudly and forcefully, which differs from the mood of the original song.
The Finale is a joyous “song of the people” and starts in the parallel key of E Major. A particularly fun moment is when the music transitions back to the joyous theme and the musicians take part in what Brian calls the “hot potato” section. This involves a short 3 note motif that is passed around very quickly from instrument to instrument. This is a classic Beethoven compositional technique used to build drama in the music. At the end, the whole movement comes to a rousing coda that ends in the main quartet key of E minor.
Musician Biographies
Emilie Choi an avid chamber musician and violinist. She is the Concertmaster of Auburn Symphony Orchestra and Assistant Concertmaster at the Pacific Northwest Ballet. She is also an active player with Lincoln Center Stage. Emilie holds a Master’s of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Stephen Rose. She also holds a Certificate of Historical Performance Practice from Case Western Reserve University, and Bachelor’s degrees in Music Performance and Speech and Hearing Sciences from the University of Washington. When not playing her violin (which was made the same year Beethoven was born, 1770) she loves cooking, traveling and learning bits of new languages.
Kimberly Harrenstein, a violinist and violist from the Seattle area, received both her Bachelor of Music with Honours (BMusHons), and her Licentiate of The Royal Academy of Music (LRAM) from The Royal Academy of Music, University of London, London, UK in 2011.
Since then, she has played with orchestras such as Southbank Sinfonia (where she toured England, Scotland, Wales, and Anghiari, Italy), Orpheus Sinfonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra (where she toured to Changsha, China; Dalian, China; and Moscow, Russia), BBC Philharmonic (where she held a trial for Assistant Principal Viola), and BBC Concert Orchestra.
She performed as part of an on-stage string quartet, alongside actor Alex Jennings, in the West End production of, “Hymn” by Alan Bennett, and has played with many other artists such as Dionne Warwick, Boy George, ABC, Sir Cliff Richard, Tony Hadley, Katie Melua, Joe McElderly, Alexandra Burke, Chipmunk, Caro Emerald, Rumer, Mica Paris, Rainer Hersch, and Hyung-Ki Joo.
After living in the UK, Kimberly returned to the Seattle area where she has been performing as a freelance musician. Some of her notable performances include playing with Josh Groban, The Who, Trans Siberian Orchestra, Lights, and Disturbed. She can often be found playing with the 5th Avenue Theatre, Paramount Theatre, Seattle Collaborative Orchestra, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Auburn Symphony.
Joyce Ramée is assistant principal violist in the Auburn Symphony and an active performer on ASO’s Chamber Music Series. She received her degree in viola performance from the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, where she studied with Max Aronoff and Joseph dePasquale. While studying at Tanglewood, she performed under conductors including Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa and Kurt Masur. Since 1987, Joyce has served on the faculty at the University of Puget Sound, teaching viola, string techniques and community music violin. She co-founded the Max Aronoff Viola Institute, a nationally recognized educational program, and directed it throughout its 28-year organizational life. Joyce has premiered numerous chamber and solo works by Northwest composers including Dell Wade, Lawrence Ebert and Daniel Ott. She is a founding member of both the Auburn Symphony and the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra. Outside of music, Joyce is a 30+year member of St. Mark’s Cathedral Choir and enjoys wine, food and Italian language learning for recreation. She lives in Seattle with her husband, French hornist Rodger Burnett, and their many cats.
Brian Wharton comes from a musical family in Idaho where both parents play cello and piano professionally. He received degrees from Western Washington University and the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is passionate about teaching and maintains a large studio in Auburn, Washington, teaching students from ages 7 to 80. His students have won the Washington State solo competition and many have been principal cello of the Tacoma Youth Symphony. He has taught at Pacific Lutheran University and played professionally with the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Opera, Pacific Northwest Ballet, the Northwest Chamber Orchestra, and principal cello with the Auburn Symphony. His passion for chamber music led him to create the Auburn Symphony Chamber Series. He produces a wide variety of chamber programs throughout the year at different venues around Auburn including Mary Olson Farm. Brian enjoys fishing with his kids, hiking, and touring national parks. He currently resides in Auburn with his wife Melinda and their two children, Hailey and Connor.